When we think about climate change, it’s often difficult to wrap our minds around a problem that affects the entire planet. UCLA researchers have partly remedied that. They’ve just released a report that provides a detailed, almost neighborhood by neighborhood analysis of how a warming world is going to change temperatures right here in Southern California.
According to the study, coastal areas like Santa Monica and Long Beach are likely to warm an average of 3 to 4 degrees. Dense urban areas like downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys will warm an average of 4 degrees, and mountain and desert regions like Palm Springs and Lancaster will warm 4 to 5 degrees.
The number of 93 degree days (or hotter) is going to triple or even quadruple. “The places that are already hot get even hotter,” said Paul Bunje, one of the report’s authors.
As the future heats up, what can we do? Here’s my conversation with Bunje:
Want to know how hot your neighborhood might get? Here’s the UCLA report.